


Trouble With Making Up, The

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Angst, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-11-14
Updated: 2008-11-14
Packaged: 2019-05-15 05:15:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 20,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14784234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: Will discovers a damaging secret about Josh and Donna.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

Donna moved quickly down the corridor of the Howard Johnson’s the campaign was staying at. She was almost to her room. She knew the Santos campaign was staying at the same hotel again and she had managed to avoid Josh when she got back from the speech. She hated when this happened. She hated the look in his eyes when they saw each other unexpectedly, hated the awkward silences that always followed the forced smiles, and hated what had become of them. 

And today of all days, she absolutely didn’t want to see him. 

It was stupid, she knew. She didn’t work for him anymore and that was her own doing. She didn’t have the right to expect anything from him today. But she had always thought that they were more than boss and assistant. He had flown to Germany to be with her, and he had been devastated when he saw Colin. Donna had never been more ashamed of something she had done in her life than when she woke up from surgery and he was still there. She had ruined their chance. There was finally a moment when their guard was down, and Colin had come back in with her mother. Josh had returned to the US and when she got back, they couldn’t get back on track. 

As she approached her door, she saw an envelope outside on the floor. It was from the White House. She frowned a bit and unlocked her door, stopping abruptly when she saw an extremely large floral bouquet on the dresser. She dropped the envelope into her attache case and dropped it on the bed, then moved slowly towards the bouquet. She saw the card attached and sucked in her breath. 

She knew who they were from. But what could he possibly say to her this year? They weren’t working together anymore. It wasn’t their anniversary, not that she ever thought it was, but she liked his consistency. 

She picked up the small white envelope and turned it around in her hands, running her fingers over her name that she could tell he wrote himself. He had personally found a florist to order the flowers. 

She walked slowly backwards until she felt the bed behind her and sat down. 

Half of her wanted to rip the card open; the other half was terrified of what it was going to say. 

Finally, she realized she was being ridiculous and she pulled the small card out from the envelope and read it. 

“I can’t fit everything I want to say to you on this tiny card. I’m sorry. Please stop hating me.” 

She smiled. She could see him in her head working up the nerve to write something on the card. She missed him so much it was nearly suffocating. No. These flowers didn’t wipe everything away and fix it all. But they were the first step towards that, and he obviously wanted to talk to her. 

Suddenly, she was in motion. She grabbed her key card and flew out of her room. She was going to find him. He was somewhere in this hotel and she’d knock on every damn door if she had to until she found him. She blindly punched the button for the elevator and began to pace before it. When the bell chimed, she had noticed that she had hit the up button instead of the down one. But forces of something were working for her because when the doors opened, he was standing in there. And now he was looking at her cautiously. 

She stood there for a second, stunned at her luck, before tentatively stepping into the elevator. His gaze instantly dropped to the floor. The doors closed and the elevator began to move again. 

Josh could see that she found the flowers in her room. He could see the card in her hand. But he couldn’t tell what she was thinking. He might have had an easier time of it if he looked up at her, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He didn’t think he could take it if he saw rejection there. Donna had become a different person in the last year and he wasn’t sure how to read her anymore. The walls between them had thickened over the recent months and he was just as much to blame. 

But this day meant something to him, and now that he had had the real chance to show her just what it actually meant, he couldn’t pass it up. But now he wasn’t so sure he shouldn’t be regretting that decision. 

“I got the flowers.” she said softly. 

“Someone gave you flowers?” he tried for misdirection and stopped about a mile short of it. 

“Josh.” she said softly. 

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. 

“Can I get off here with you?” she asked. 

“You can do anything you want.” he replied. 

“Josh?” she tried again. 

“Please.” fell desperately from his lips before he could stop it. She smiled, which he took as a good sign, and they stepped off the elevator together. 

He turned to walk toward his room and she followed him. That familiar feeling of uncertainness settled over them. Her eyebrows shot up when he opened his door on the first try, and his mimicked hers when she followed him inside. He dropped his backpack on the bed and looked at her. They stayed safely on opposite sides of the room with, ironically, the bed between them. 

“I don’t hate you.” 

She was so quiet that Josh wasn’t sure he’d heard her. 

“You’re mad at me.” he said. 

“You’re mad at me.” she threw back. 

“I was.” he nodded. 

“Well, I don’t hate you.” she said again. “I’ll tell you what I do hate though.” 

“Kay.” 

“I hate this, Josh.” she said waving a hand between them. “I hate that I pick up the phone to call you and put it down again. I hate that when I see you, we can’t even look at each other. I hate that I miss you and it didn’t have to be that way.” 

“You said I irritated you.” he reminded her. 

“You did.” 

“And now?” 

“And now I just miss you.” 

“It didn’t have to be this way.” he agreed. “But it’s not because of you that it didn’t have to be this way.” 

“It’s not?” 

“It’s because of me.” 

No one could bring guilt upon themselves like Josh. Somehow, anything that went wrong could somehow be traced back to him. He was like his own Six Degrees of Guilt. 

“How’s that?” she asked cautiously. 

“I should have come after you, Donna.” he laughed. “I was so pissed off that you left me, that I couldn’t bring myself to do it. But if I did...” he trailed off and she tipped her head to one side and looked at him questioningly. He’d missed that about her. 

“What?” she prompted. 

“If I did, I probably would have ended up talking you into coming back and I didn’t want to do that. When you left, it changed everything, Donna. You changed all the rules. I had nothing to hide behind. There was no desk between us anymore. Suddenly, everything I could have said meant something entirely different. And you said I irritated you. If I begged you not to leave me and you said I was irritating...” 

“No, Josh.” she said quickly. She moved out from behind her side of the bed, but still stood away from him. “I was mad at the situation. I was mad at everything that was happening. CJ became Chief of Staff and you seemed okay with that. I was angry at you. I was angry FOR you. I was angry that we wouldn’t let the walls back down again. You were so different around me and I was angry that we wouldn’t acknowledge that things changed. Yes, I was irritated by you, but I was irritated by me, too. Then before the debate, I saw you with Amy...I thought you didn’t want me.” 

“No.” Josh said mimicking her movements of walking out from the safety of his corner. “Amy wasn’t my idea, Donna. I fired her. That was all the Congressman’s idea and it was a bad one. Amy...well, there is no Amy for me.” 

“You keep going back to her.” 

“You date.” Josh tossed back. 

“When you don’t sabotage it.” she replied. 

“I recall helping you get Commander Wonderful.” he said. “And I sat across a hospital hallway from Danny Boy while he accused me of being in love with you.” 

Donna was taken aback. That was a little more than Josh wanted to say, and she could see it as soon as it was out of his mouth. He brought his hands up his eyes and turned away from her. The air between them was charged. This could all easily fall apart again. The glue on their relationship had just been applied, and if they didn’t press tight enough, it would fall apart again. 

“He said the same thing to me.” Donna confessed. Josh dropped his hands and turned back to her. “After you left. Something about Puritanical --” 

“American workplace ethics.” Josh finished. 

“Yeah.” she nodded. “I haven’t seen or heard from him since.” 

“Oh.” Josh said and looked away. 

“He was a mistake, Josh.” she said and his eyes came back to hers. “He was nice, and he was charming, but it was a mistake. During the lockdown, CJ accused me of never leaving my job for something more because I didn’t want to leave you. She said it was why I didn’t date, and why I came back to the White House that night instead of going to get a drink with some guy that night that invited me out. And it was humiliating and it made me mad at you, and so I went to Gaza and there Colin was, and he was interested.” 

Josh was stunned by that admission. Where exactly had they gone wrong? He always wondered where the wheels came off the wagon and how he could have missed it. She didn’t seem to know either. He was wondering about the way CJ was acting towards him since they found out about the explosion and when he came back. It was guilt. 

He let out a breath and sat down on the bed. He was surprised when she sat down next to him. He couldn’t believe they were actually talking about this, and not yelling. It was what he wanted. It was why he sent the flowers. 

“I’m sorry, too, Josh.” she whispered turning to him. His head snapped in her direction and they were inches away from each other. There were tears in her eyes, and he quickly looked away. “Josh.” she said again with a tug on his sleeve. 

“Yeah.” he said looking down at her hands. 

“We just painfully discussed the fact that I don’t work for you anymore.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Well, I’m kind of thinking, if you really wanted, and if you don’t hate me, and I don’t hate you; and if you miss me and I miss you; well, it occurs to me that this might be an appropriate time to kiss me.” her eyes had drifted over his shoulder when she said that, but when he turned his head to her, she looked back. 

“I really want to.” he whispered. 

“I really want you to.” 

“I’m really scared.” he fessed up looking down. 

“That makes two of us.” she smiled. “But I don’t want to be scared anymore.” 

“Me either.” he said looking back up. 

“And I don’t want to miss you anymore.” she continued. “Well, I do. When we leave here, I’ll miss you, but I want to miss you in a totally different way.” 

“Me too.” he smiled back. 

“So, maybe you should kiss me, so we can, you know, start working towards that point.” 

He lifted his hand to her face and they turned their bodies to each other. But when she thought he was going to lean in, he dropped his hand. 

“Okay. Well now I’m really nervous.” he said. 

“And I’m not?” 

“You’re the girl, I’m the guy, there’s more pressure.” 

“Josh!” she exclaimed frustrated. “I’m this close to FINALLY finding out what it’s like to kiss you. And so maybe we could just get to it.” 

“You’ve wondered what it was like to kiss me?” he smiled. 

“Of course, you idiot, you haven’t?” 

“Calling me an idiot, Donna, not that big of a turn on.” 

“Me sitting practically in your lap in a hotel room where no one can interrupt us, and no one will yell at us later...and wait. You’ve never wondered?” 

“I’ve wondered about doing a lot more than kissing you, Donna.” 

“Okay, well, you’re never going to get to find out what that’s like if --” 

He brought his hand back up and kissed her. Her hands came up into his hair and his other hand came up to her face. She felt the tears sting her eyes as she learned how gently he could touch her. There was a tingling in the pit of her stomach and she didn’t realize her toes were curled until they began to cramp. She gave him a little tug and they slowly laid down onto the bed. She felt his arm come around to her back so she didn’t fall too fast and his other hand slid to her hip, as her hands moved to his face. 

When they were settled on the bed he pulled up and looked at her. Her hand ran down his face as she looked back up at him. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked when he saw the tears in her eyes. 

“Nothing. I’m just afraid this moment isn’t real. I get to this spot in my dreams and you disappear.” 

“I promise not to do that if you won’t.” he smiled softly and she nodded her promise in return. 

“This is going to be complicated.” she sighed. 

“Has it ever not been?” He chuckled in return. 

“Joshua, be serious.” 

“Say it again.” he said quickly. 

“What?” 

“My name.” 

“Josh?” 

“That’s not the way you said you.” 

“How did I say it?” she asked confused. Instead of answering her, he leaned down and kissed her deeply. “Joshua.” she whispered again when he finally broke the kiss. 

“Like that.” he grinned. 

“We’re on opposing campaigns.” Donna pointed out. 

“So?” 

“I’m supposed to be trying to beat you, and you’re supposed to be trying to beat me.” 

“I’m not trying to beat YOU Donna, but I will beat Will.” Josh said confidently. “You and I aren’t about politics, Donna, and it wasn’t until I left the White House that I realized that. You were the only thing keeping me there. The only reason why I stayed after the shutdown was because I thought you still believed in what we were doing.” 

“I believed in you.” 

“Past tense?” 

“No.” 

He smiled at her and kissed her again. He knew if he ever started kissing her, he’d never be able to stop. She tipped her head back and he answered the invitation by raining kisses down her neck. He smiled against her skin when she sighed. 

“Stay with me.” he whispered. 

“Um...you don’t think it’s a little soon for that? This morning you thought I hated you.” 

“Well, first of all, after eight years of wanting you, Donna, no, I actually don’t think it’s too soon; but, I didn’t actually mean that.” he confessed. “I just...I just want to spend time with you again, and I just want to hold you tonight, and I really want to keep kissing you.” he finished with a wicked grin. 

“Kay.” she nodded. He kissed her again and she wondered at the wisdom of their apparent unspoken agreement to wait. “Josh,” she said when they came up for air again. “I just want you to know that I never hated you. I was mad, but I could never hate you.” 

“Good.” he nodded. “Because I love you, Donna, and every day that I was away from you brought me just a little bit closer to never recovering.” 

A slow grin spread across her face as her eyes welled up with tears. “I thought I was going to have to say it first.” 

“You haven’t said it at all.” 

“I don’t think I’m going to now.” she said with a flirty smile. “I think I’m going to wait.” 

“Is that a fact?” he challenged. 

“Yes.” 

“You’ll say it.” 

“Why?” 

“Because I say so.” 

“Try again.” 

“Okay.” he said, and she screeched as he started tickling her mercilessly. 

“No, Josh!” she shrieked laughing. “Stop! I’m going to pee my pants!” 

“Well, that won’t be attractive at all.” 

“Okay! Okay!” she laughed. “I love you! I love you!” He stopped and grinned widely as she struggled to catch her breath. 

“Hey, Donna.” he said. 

“Yeah.” she smiled still trying to compose herself. 

“Happy Anniversary.” 

“It’s not our anniversary.”she shot back automatically. 

“Oh it is.” 

“It. Is. Not.” she denied emphatically. “You do this every year to me. Every year we hash this out again and again.” 

“I’m going to celebrate this day every year for the rest of my life.” 

“Me too.” she relented running her fingers behind his ear. He leaned into her touch, then kissed the inside of her wrist. “But for this, not for the other thing. The other thing, you’re just wrong.” 

He laughed and wrapped his arms around her, hugging tightly to him. The next morning, they were unaware that they were being watched as they said goodbye in a secluded corridor of the hotel. 

Vice President Russell and Will Bailey stumbled upon them quietly and didn’t make their presence known. Donna was leaning up against the door of her room, and Josh was kissing her. He said something to her and stepped away as she smiled regretfully, but he immediately stepped back to kiss her again. He finally walked away in the opposite direction and she disappeared into her room. 

“I can’t believe I just saw that.” the Vice President gaped. “I thought those were rumors.” 

“They were.” Will said. 

“Well, how long do you think that’s been going on?” the Vice President asked gesturing to where Josh and Donna just stood. 

“I’m pretty sure not that long.” Will said. “You heard her after the chicken thing. If they were sleeping together, I don’t think she would have said quite all those nasty things.” 

“Well, this is...” the Vice President trailed off. 

“I’ll fire her, sir.” Will sighed. He couldn’t believe he was going to have to do that. He couldn’t believe they had been that stupid. 

“Are you crazy? Don’t you dare fire her.” the Vice President ordered. 

“Sir, she’s sleeping with the enemy. She could tell him anything.” 

“And he could tell her anything.” the Vice President countered. “I’m Vice President because Hoynes didn’t realize how damaging pillow talk could be. We’re going to bring down the Santos campaign; and we’re going to do it with Donna.” 

TBC


	2. Trouble With Making Up, The

“What’s with you?” Matt demanded of Josh as they loaded into the bus. 

“What do you mean, sir?” Josh smiled in return. 

“What do I mean?” Matt asked incredulously. “I mean all day yesterday you looked like the end of the world was upon you. This morning you can’t stop smiling.” 

“I’ve been told I have a nice smile. I’ve been told I should show it more.” Josh quipped as they moved to a more private part of the bus away from the other staffers. 

“Well, I’M telling you that it’s freaking me out.” Matt shot back. “The President’s Pitbull doesn’t grin, he growls.” 

“First of all, that’s the most ridiculous nickname I’ve ever heard in my career. I’ve never heard anyone else in my former job referred to like that. Where do you guys even get that from?” 

“By you guys you mean...” 

“Congress.” 

“Senators say it, too.” 

“It’s ridiculous.” Josh replied. “And I never ‘growled’ at you anyway.” 

“Well, that’s exactly untrue.” Matt said sitting down. “But that’s neither here nor there. Some of my colleagues believe you lack the muscle coordination in your face to smile.” 

“Does it look like I lack the muscle coordination in my face to smile?” 

“No.” Matt said. “Do you mind if I take a picture of you right now with my phone and email it the others?” 

“By the others you mean...” 

“Congress.” 

“Ah. Then yes, I do.” 

“It’s just you’re always so serious.” 

“Running for President is a serious thing.” Josh replied. 

“Not always.” Matt returned. 

“Run for President before have you?” 

“You’re telling me on neither of the two Bartlet campaigns, you never unwound and had fun?” Matt challenged. 

“Of course, we did.” Josh replied. 

“So, tell me.” Matt prodded. “Why are you so happy?” 

Josh was wary of his answer. He wanted to tell the Congressman about his relationship with Donna. He didn’t want to give the man any reason not to trust him. But things with her were so new, and so raw. There was so much that they still had to talk about. There were many, many issues remaining between them and they were both afraid of outside influences. And Donna was petrified of losing her job. Josh secretly wouldn’t have been all that broken up if she lost her job, but she’d be devastated and he’d feel responsible, and he’d just as soon not go through that. He was never actually sure if Donna actually knew about the rumors that had gone around about them. She’d never mentioned them to him and he certainly never asked. But he had probably heard most of them, so he was pretty confident that everyone would have an opinion about them. Their friends definitely would. 

And he didn’t want that. He didn’t want people giving their unsolicited advice. He wanted to protect it until it was strong enough to flourish under the intense scrutiny of Washington. It was certainly going to make waves in the campaigns. He WAS going to beat Will and he couldn’t let them use her against him as a weapon. 

“I just reconnected with an old friend last night is all.” Josh shrugged. 

“The Chicken Fighter?” Matt asked. 

“What makes you think that?” 

“She was your assistant.” Matt shrugged. “But when our paths cross you guys seem to avoid each other. Almost seven years in the White House, I just kind of thought it was her.” 

“It is.” Josh confessed. 

“You guys left the White House on bad terms with each other?” 

“Just in a misunderstanding.” 

“She’s feisty.” 

“She is.” Josh laughed. 

“Can you steal her?” 

“I don’t think so. I’ve already tried once.” 

“She likes Russell?” 

“She likes what she’s doing. She likes that I’m not telling her what to do.” 

“I have a feeling you’ve never told her what to do.” 

Josh shrugged in response. He was glad that he had found a way not to totally lie. The Congressman seemed to like her. But clearing the air with a past employee was much different than starting a romantic relationship with a member of an opposing campaign. 

“Can’t you just order her over to our side.” Matt grinned. Josh chuckled. He’d had limited contact with Helen Santos so far, but he was reasonably sure Matt didn’t order her to do anything. 

“You’ve obviously never met her.” Josh replied. 

“I actually can’t say I’ve ever talked to her.” Matt admitted. 

“I’ll introduce you one day.” Josh promised. And he would...one day. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Good morning, Will.” Donna smiled joining him in the booth of the hotel restaurant. 

“Morning.” Will grumbled not meeting her eyes. 

“Sleep okay?” 

“I guess. You?” 

“Uh-huh.” she nodded opening the newspaper. 

“Santos beat feet out of here pretty early this morning.” 

“Did they?” 

“You didn’t notice?” 

“I just got down here.” 

“I wonder what the big hurry was.” he asked and she shrugged. Will squinted a little at her as he watched her sip her coffee and start reading through the paper. Surely Josh told her where they were headed next. Not that that was a big secret. You hit all the democratic hot spots. They were doing the same thing. But he was trying to feel her out and see if she’d tell him about her and Josh or give him any indication that they’d discussed the campaigns. 

“Talk to Josh at all while he was here?” he fished. 

“A little.” That wasn’t a lie, she thought. They did talk a little, then they kissed a lot. 

“Things just seemed so tense between you guys lately, I was just wondering if they were getting any better.” 

“I don’t really want to talk about Josh.” Donna said looking over at him apologetically. She didn’t want to be maneuvered into lying. Last night was amazing. She slept in his arms all night. He told her again that he loved her. They had a long way to go, but they were off to a perfect start. As long as they healed their relationship with all the kissing, she’d take as long as it took. But if Will and the Vice President found out that she was in a relationship with Josh, she’d probably lose her job. She didn’t want it to get around that she was fired because of her relationship with him. She didn’t want people to think she couldn’t be trusted if she didn’t work for Josh. She loved her job. She was starting to see what Josh didn’t see in Bob Russell, but this job was still great experience for her and would certainly open doors for her. 

“Okay.” Will nodded. Sometimes it was hard to read her. When he first started working at the White House, he had thought that she was a pretty open person, kind, genuinely cared, but he was starting to find that she could run a little cold and he suspected Gaza was the reason for that. People in the White House talked about she and Josh in hushed tones. Donna had her own little world that was fiercely protected by Josh, but Gaza probably opened her eyes to how cold and unfeeling the world could be. 

Not that he could blame her. He did feel horrible about what happened over there, and he was relieved when he found out she was going to be all right. When Josh had arrived at Camp David, he was noticeably changed. He went after that peace agreement with both guns blazing. There was certainly a raw determination to him then and he could often be found trying to call Germany from the Birnham Woods. 

Not that Will thought Donna was a babe in the woods when they’d met, but Inauguration Night showed him the lengths Josh would go to keep her happy. And it wasn’t long before people started volunteering their take on the Josh/Donna thing. Some of it, Will thought was ridiculous; some of it he thought might hit the nail on the head. It was very apparent that night that she meant a great deal to him. Neither Toby, Danny, or Charlie had found Josh’s actions that evening odd. He didn’t hear what they had said to each other outside her apartment, but he could read Josh’s body language and he wasn’t happy. But then he saw her smile at him and his entire demeanor had changed. 

It was a shame really, Will thought. They did belong together. But Will had a job to do, and he had something to prove. And he wasn’t about to let the sordid love affair of Josh and Donna get between him and the White House. 

TBC


	3. Trouble With Making Up, The

Donna dropped her stuff on the bed of the Holiday Inn with a soft smile. It had been two weeks since she saw Josh and they were staying at this hotel tonight. She had called him when they got here, and he was still about an hour out, so she decided to leave a key to her room for him down at the desk and he promised to come find her when they got there. 

She was nervous and excited about seeing him again. They had talked on the phone for hours every night. She missed him so much, but it was the good kind of missing him that she had wanted. She missed their long late night talks when it was just the two of them. He teased her and left her breathless at the same time...just like he always did. 

She slid the contents of her attache case out onto the bed with a self-satisfied smile. If she was going to have to wait, she might as well be productive and work a bit. She noticed the manilla envelope amid the files and frowned. Picking it up, she remembered that it was the envelope she had found outside her door from the White House. It had been marked personal, so she hadn’t opened it right away. Then she had gone to see Josh and it slipped her mind. It must have gotten buried in her bag over the past two weeks. 

It was unlike her to “lose” something like that, but then again, she had been walking around with her head in the clouds, so that could be it, too. Plus, no one had called her about it, so obviously no one was waiting for her to open it. 

She pulled open the top and slid the contents out. When she saw what it was, she collapsed onto the bed in horror. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Josh blew through the doors of the hotel lobby and moved straight for the desk. He needed to get to her room. He needed to get his hands on her and his lips on her. Two weeks was too long. Mental note, he thought to himself, shamelessly follow the Russell campaign around. 

He gave his name to the desk clerk and she checked him in. “Ms. Moss left you this.” the clerk said sliding him a room key envelope. Josh smiled at Donna’s forethought, and he thought back to the days when they automatically exchanged hotel room keys. 

He grabbed his luggage and headed straight off for the fourth floor, which ironically enough, his actual room was also on. That seemed to keep happening to them. Before he dreaded it, now he was thanking God for small miracles. Of course, he had known that Will was in Washington today with the Vice President, who wasn’t scheduled to come here until tomorrow. 

He stopped outside her room, swiped the card and opened the door. As soon as he stepped into the room, he could tell that something was horribly wrong. Another step into the room, and he heard a strangled sob from inside. 

“Donna?” he called frantically dropping all his bags and tearing off the for the bed. He found her sitting on the edge sobbing uncontrollably and struggling to regain control of her breathing. He dropped to his knees in front of her and took her face in his hands. She immediately latched onto his forearms. “Donna, what happened?” She shook her head as another sob escaped her. 

He had never seen her like this; never seen her so incredibly worked up like this. This wasn’t even the reaction Sam said she had when Toby told her he got shot, though Sam said he had seen her cry more than once. 

“You’re scaring the hell out of me, Donna, what’s going on?” 

As he shifted to pull her closer, he felt something under his knee on the floor. He looked down for the first time and froze. Black and white 8 x 10 photos were fanned out on the floor. The top one was an overturned Suburban on fire. Josh’s mind grew hazy for a moment as he was transported back to that day. The terror he felt washing over him a again. He pushed his knee to the side to reveal the pictures underneath. The next one was actually a picture of her. 

There was only one source these pictures could have originated from and if Josh ever crossed paths with Danny Boy again, he’d beat him to a bloody pulp. He gathered them quickly and slid them safely back into the envelope, trying desperately not to look at them and erase the image of the one he saw of Donna from his mind, no easy feat with her currently coming apart in his arms. She had looked exactly the way he saw her in his nightmares. 

He fought back the tears and sat next to her on the bed, pulling her convulsing body to him. “Breathe deep.” he said softly. He took deep breathes and encouraged her softly to do the same. When he noticed her first near successful attempt at it, he started to continuously count to ten softly for her while she inhaled and exhaled. 

Eventually, her breathing was under control and she stayed trembling and crying softly in his arms. He held her tightly and squinted his eyes against the images in his mind. He kissed her forehead and stroked her hair, then let a few tears fall when her arms finally came around him and held on tight. 

Thank God she came to find him when she found the flowers. He was terrified that if that had gone another way, she would have been alone tonight. She just as easily could have opened that when they weren’t in the same city. The fact that she had gone through any of this alone was a near devastating fault. He knew when she came back from Germany, she had talked to a trauma victims specialist from State. He’d called over there himself to set it up. He never asked her how it went, never asked her if she wanted to talk about it; exactly what she had done for him. Helped her and kept his distance. 

After a while -- minutes? hours? He really wasn’t sure -- she began to relax in his arms. 

“Did you know they were coming?” he asked softly and she shook her head against his chest. 

“It went to the White House first.” she explained flatly. “I got it about two weeks ago, but I put it in my bag and forgot all about it.” 

“What do you want me to do with them?” 

“Burn them.” she said immediately. 

“Kay.” he agreed, having NO idea when he was going to be able to do that. Maybe he’d just find a shredder. 

“No wait.” she said. “Lock them away somewhere when you get back to Washington. I might want to see them one day.” 

“Donna...” 

“Please.” she whispered. “Maybe I’ll never want to see them, but maybe I will.” 

“All right.” he reluctantly agreed with a sigh. He had a safety deposit box big enough to fit them, he’d just put them in there, that way neither of them would ever stumble across them accidentally. “Why don’t you go get changed, get some water?” 

“Kay.” she nodded. She pulled away from him, grabbed her suitcase and disappeared into the bathroom. While she was in there, he cleared off the bed, got changed and pulled down the bed. When she reemerged, he had seen that she washed her face and pulled her hair up. This was his Donna. Beautiful, unguarded, not made up for the outside world. Just Donna. 

They climbed into bed and she wasted no time curling up next to him and resuming her tight grip. He rolled them to their sides so they were facing each other. 

“I’m so glad you were here.” she said as he ran a hand down his face. 

“Me too.” he nodded. 

“Thank you.” 

“You’ve done it for me a hundred times, Donna.” he smiled lightly. “You put me back together when you didn’t even know you were doing it. If I never do anything in my life again to hurt you, it won’t compare to all the wonderful things you’ve done for me.” 

“I did it because I love you, and you HAVE done wonderful things for me.” 

He kissed her softly and wrapped his arms around her again. He slept lightly, as he knew he would. If he slept too deeply, he’d allow the nightmare to come, so he dozed, and predictably Donna’s blood curling scream later woke him immediately. He soothed her back to sleep like she used to do for him, though this time he could add whispers of love that she couldn’t before. 

TBC


	4. Trouble With Making Up, The

“Hey, Margaret.” Will greeted approaching the Chief of Staff’s office. 

“Hi, Will.” Margaret returned. “You’re working late.” 

“Well, there’s more to do when we’re in Washington.” Will replied. 

“CJ’s got kind of a busy night.” 

CJ popped out of her office to hand a file to Margaret. “Will!” she greeted jovially. She was in a good mood tonight. She didn’t have to go down to the situation room and be made to feel like an idiot. “Coming back to the force from the dark side? I got a couple jobs open.” 

“Tempting.” Will smiled. 

“Won’t you come home Will Bailey? Won’t you come home?” CJ sang. 

“Less tempting now.” 

“I’m all booked up tonight.” 

“I’m actually here to talk to Margaret.” Will replied. Margaret’s eyes widened slightly, but CJ didn’t seem to think anything of it, as she disappeared back into her office and closed the door. 

“What do you want?” Margaret asked bluntly. 

“I was wondering if I could talk to you a little bit about Donna.” Will began, and Margaret looked truly surprised. 

“Why?” Margaret didn’t last all these years in this job by not being cautious. 

“Well, she hasn’t been herself lately, and it’s kind of starting to affect her work.” Will bluffed. 

“That doesn’t sound like Donna.” Margaret said shaking her head. 

“Well, that’s what I thought. It kind of comes and goes. But the thing is, when she’s off her game, it’s usually when Josh is around.” Will took note as Margaret’s eyes snapped up to his and then looked quickly away. “I don’t know them as well as you all do.” Will continued. “I was only in the West Wing for a short amount of time, and some of the things I saw...well, when she came to me for a job, I was rather taken aback. I was wondering if you could shed some light on their relationship for me.” 

Margaret sat down at her desk, clearly wondering about the best course of action to take here. 

“It would really help me out to understand it a little more.” Will hedged. “I’d hate for it to have to cost her her job. She’s good at her job and they’re my friends. I want to be able to help, if I can. Maybe it will help me be a little more understanding.” 

“You’ll have to ask direct questions, Will.” Margaret relented. “I’m not really sure what you’re looking for.” 

“Well, there were rumors that they were romantically involved.” Will asked outright. Margaret stopped her mundane movements about her desk and looked at him. 

“There are people that said that.” she confirmed. “Some say that’s why she left.” 

“Why?” 

“Some say she left because they broke up; some say she left because she wanted a romantic relationship and he didn’t.” 

“Do you think they were ever involved?” 

“Not physically, no. Amy Gardner is enough proof of that. Donna would never have stood for that. She barely did already. Emotionally...” 

“Emotionally what?” Will prodded when Margaret broke off thoughtfully. 

“I’m a watcher, Will.” Margaret said. “I watch people. It’s one of the reasons I’ve kept my job for so long. After the shooting, Josh and Donna were very different. They worked well together before, but that night in the hospital, it was like their souls connected or something.” 

“Their souls connected.” Will repeated slowly. Was she kidding him? What the hell made him think Margaret was the one to talk about this with? 

“They can have conversations without finishing sentences; they can have conversations without speaking. It’s freaky.” 

That’s not the only thing that’s freaky, Will thought. 

“A few years ago, I had the assistants over my house one night after work. Donna couldn’t come because she, of course, had to work. But we broke out my Ouiji board --” 

“Okay. You know what? I think I got a good idea. I’ll go see if Carol can shed some light on it. Thanks for your help, Margaret.” Will said quickly. 

“Any time, Will!” she called after him as she watched him hurry away, and she picked up the phone. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

As it turned out, Carol wasn’t much of a help either. And he actually had to suffer through the Ouiji board story from her. How is it that these people worked with Josh and Donna for so long, but didn’t really know them? There were people that used to volunteer information to him, but they were interns and he didn’t think they were that reliable of a source, as they didn’t work closely with Josh and Donna. He figured the assistants’ gossip circle would definitely be reliable. They were, after all, the eyes and ears of the West Wing. 

He walked into his office, scratching his chin and lost in thought to find Toby Ziegler standing there waiting for him. 

“Toby!” Will greeted with absolutely no enthusiasm. “To what should I expect you to berate me on this evening?” 

“I can’t get the theme of Magnum P.I. out of my head.” Toby responded evenly. 

“Well, that’s unfortunate.” Will replied dryly. 

“I’m hearing you’re taking an interest in some former West Wing employees.” Toby said cutting right to the chase. 

“Well, one works for me, and she doesn’t do such a hot job when the other’s around, so yes.” Will said. 

“Really?” Toby said totally unconvinced. No way does Will Bailey care about Donna Moss’s personal life. 

“That doesn’t sound like Donna.” 

“No, you’re right.” Will agreed walking behind his desk. “I thought some of her friends could help me out. I’d hate to have to let her go.” 

“Oh, I’m sure.” Toby said with his hands in his pockets. As usual, Will couldn’t read Toby to save his life. If there was a more formidable opponent out there, Will hoped he never met him because Toby was certainly enough. “Donna wasn’t as close with the assistants as she was with the senior staff.” 

“Don’t tell me you’re actually interested in helping me.” Will said. 

“I’m not.” Toby assured. “But I’ll help Donna.” 

“This also helps Josh. I thought you were mad at Josh.” 

“Do you have any brothers, Will?” 

“No.” 

“I’m always mad at Josh. Josh and I fight. We disagree. It’s what brothers do.” Toby replied. 

The truth was, Toby carried guilt around with him when it came to Josh. They all did a bit. It took them way to long in the confusion after the shooting to realize that Josh wasn’t with them. And when he found him and discovered the reason why and saw the naked fear in Josh’s eyes... Josh became his blood brother that night on the cold pavement. And while Toby often thought Josh was impulsive and an idiot as much as he was brilliant, he’d always be there to watch his back in the end. 

“Something’s up with them.” Will said. “I just want to help her get more focused.” 

“Josh and Donna never had a romantic relationship while working in the White House, Will. Ever.” 

“A lot of people say differently.” 

“A lot of people are wrong.” 

“What makes you think you’re not one of them?” Will shot back. 

“He’s my brother.” 

Will and Toby stared each other down for a long, charged moment. Will never kissed Toby’s ass and so Will assumed that’s why Toby never really fully accepted him. He certainly never supported his transfer to the V.P.’s office. Everyone knew that Toby wasn’t happy with Josh’s decision to leave the White House, so Will still didn’t fully understand Toby’s presence here this evening. 

“Watch the strategies you form, Will.” Toby said finally. “In my life, I never thought I’d quote Sam, but Josh will bust you like a pinata.” 

Toby walked out of Will’s office and Will stared at the empty doorway for a few minutes lost in thought. Strategically, Will knew he wasn’t a match for Josh. Josh had been doing this for nearly 20 years. Will not so long. But Will wasn’t above playing dirty. He was no match for Josh politically, and neither was the Vice President, but he could get to him personally. And if there was one thing he had learned about Josh Lyman since he’d come to the White House, it was that when Josh was off his game personally, it was because of Donna. And when that happened, Josh was reckless. The last thing Josh took into consideration when something was wrong with Donna was his career, as evidenced on Inauguration Night, and when he flew to Gaza, and who the hell knew what else. 

TBC


	5. Trouble With Making Up, The

Will watched as slowly the Vice President’s office filled with democrats. This little plan of Calley’s might just work, though he questioned the President’s wisdom in bringing a republican on board as Deputy Chief of Staff. Toby must have blown a gasket over that one for sure. All day and all night, Josh seemed tense around Calley. Josh’s loathing of republicans was always apparent, but he seemed overly tense when dealing with him. Will took note that Josh and Donna had been careful to stay on the opposite end of the room from each other, but they always seemed to know where the other was. 

Congressman Santos, however, had made a beeline right for Donna, much to her surprise. He called her Chicken Fighter a few times, though now she was listening wide eyed and enraptured along with the rest about the stem cell bill. Not that Will could blame her. It was an important vote and it was a big win for the President and the Vice President was going to get to ride the coat tails of it. 

Everyone in the room was listening to Matt Santos intelligently point out the merits of the bill and intelligently counter the religious argument. Will had to shake himself out of it for a minute. He couldn’t say he’d ever seen the Vice President speak like this or have people listen this intently, fellow members of Congress no less. In that minute, Will saw in Congressman Santos what Josh saw him and knew that Josh was going to take him all the way. He saw why the Vice President was so threatened by a three-term Congressman. Santos was gaining momentum coming into Super Tuesday. He had won Arizona and New Mexico. Russell was getting nervous. If Santos kept picking up speed, he’d sweep the convention. Will was getting desperate for a plan. 

He was also getting really tired. He slipped into the Vice President’s office and over into his private bathroom and splashed water on his face. He shut off the light and was just about to reenter the office when he heard Josh’s hushed voice. Will hung back in the darkened bathroom and tried not to make his presence known. He could just see them through the crack in the door. 

“What the hell, Calley?” Josh demanded. 

“Josh.” Donna said softly, patiently. 

“I had something I wanted to return to Donna.” Cliff said. 

“Excuse me?” Josh said in a low, and not all a little menacing voice. 

Cliff handed Donna a manilla envelope. Will didn’t quite understand Donna’s initial reaction to it. She flinched and grabbed onto Josh’s arm quickly, and he brought his hand up and began rubbing her back gently, keeping is icy stare on Cliff. 

“What the hell is that?” Josh demanded. 

“You know exactly what that is.” Cliff retorted in a hushed voice. 

“No. SHE’S got that.” Josh fired back. 

“Not the copy.” 

“You made a fucking copy!” Josh exclaimed harshly. 

“Josh.” Donna hissed trying desperately to calm him down. 

“How?” Josh demanded again. 

“I walked next door to the fucking Kinko’s and made a copy, Josh.” Cliff shot back. “What am I, an idiot? You two never even looked my way.” 

“You slimy, son of a --” Josh began. Donna looked mortified. But Cliff cut Josh off. 

“Don’t you dare take the high ground, Josh. That night you specifically told me you were keeping the October 4th and 5th entries. So don’t be thinking I was going to let you hold something over my head and not be able to do the same.” Cliff shot back. 

“I can’t believe this is happening.” Donna said quietly sitting down. Josh and Cliff remained toe to toe. 

“I’m giving it back to her now because now we play for the same team.” 

“You were holding onto to it to use it against her.” Josh accused. 

“I’m a republican, Josh, I wasn’t going to keep it use it against her. It was leverage for you.” 

Will watched as Josh ran his hand through his hair and turned away from Cliff towards Donna. Donna looked like she was about to lose it and true to Will’s earlier musings of Josh, his expression seemed to clear and soften. 

“Are you going to tell me you didn’t hang onto those entries?” Cliff said to Josh. 

“No. I can’t say that.” Josh agreed. 

“That’s the only copy.” Cliff said. “Nobody’s ever seen it. It was in my personal safe at my house. Take it somewhere and burn it for Christ’s sake, and the original if it’s still around.” Cliff gave them one last look and left the room. 

Josh knelt down before Donna and Will continued to hold his breath in the darkened bathroom. “Are you all right?” Josh asked her. 

She wiped the tears away and looked around the office. “Is there a shredder in here?” she asked. 

“A shredder in the personal office of the Vice President of the United States?” Josh laughed gently. “Are you kidding me?” 

“I can’t believe this is happening, Josh!” she cried. 

“It’s all right.” he said gently. 

“It’s not all right!” she hissed strongly. “It’s been three years for crying out loud! I thought it was done. Why? Why didn’t I just tell the committee about it?” 

“Because you were protecting me like you always have.” he continued in a soft voice. “Donna, this one’s all me. I’m the one that made the deal.” 

“What the hell am I going to do with this thing here? I don’t even want to touch it.” 

“I’ll get rid of it.” he said taking it from her. 

“You should read it before you do.” Donna said softly. 

“I’m not going to read it.” he insisted. “I didn’t read it then and I’m not going to read it now.” 

“It’s about you!” 

“Then I don’t need to read it.” 

“Josh!” 

“Knock it off. I’m not going to read it.” he insisted. She fell silent and kept her eyes down. “Do you have the original still?” he asked. 

“Yeah. It’s in a box under my bed.” she sighed. “I didn’t want to get rid of it.” 

“Why?” 

“Because I wanted you to read it one day.” 

“Well, I’m never going to read it, so get rid of it.” he shot back. 

“It’s that night all over again.” she whispered. 

“It’s not.” 

“Yes, it is.” she nodded, then stood up. “We’ve been in here too long.” She walked by him and out of the office. Josh smacked the envelope against the desk in frustration and then followed her out. 

Well, Will thought emerging from the bathroom, that was certainly educational. 

The next morning Will sent Donna back to Atlanta after the vote. You could cut the tension between she and Josh last night with a knife. Right before she left, Donna had complained that she didn’t get back to her apartment to water her plants and said for about the fifth time that she should consider subletting the place. Will, of course, graciously offered to water the plants for her, to which Donna was immensely grateful. 

Of course, Will went straight for Donna’s bedroom and dug around under her bed until he located a box with a small leather bound diary in it. 

Bingo. 

He watered the plants, sat down in the living room and began to read. 

Once he finished reading, he returned it to its hiding place and left the apartment. 

No wonder they didn’t want anyone to see it. 

Will played the conversation in his mind over and over again. He had assumed it was some kind of journal that they were discussing. But why did a republican have it? 

Three years, Donna had said, and at the end of the diary, he saw her entries about the MS hearings. Something had happened and Josh had covered up its existence to the committee. Cliff Calley was on that committee. Donna had, quite obviously, had a fling with Calley. Josh must have just loved that one. For whatever reason, Josh and Donna had given Cliff the diary to read rather than turn it over to the committee. There was no other explanation for it, given the diary’s contents. The whole thing was extremely damaging to Josh. 

TBC


	6. Trouble With Making Up, The

Josh smiled as he saw Donna’s cell phone number scroll across his screen. 

“Hey, beautiful.” He greeted. 

“Are you by a t.v.?” she greeted. She sounded extremely excited. 

“Yeah, I just got in my room.” 

“Turn on CNN.” she ordered. 

“What the hell channel is CNN in California?” he muttered looking on top of the television for the guide. He switched the t.v. to the correct channel and sat down on the bed. “What am I looking for?” 

“You’ll see.” she said with barely contained excitement. He smiled at how happy she sounded. Since the stem cell vote and the stupid diary thing, they’d been a bit strained again. It was easier, of course, this time around because they were actually talking about it, but she was convinced she had ruined his career. She was convinced that if Cliff kept a copy, there was no guarantee no one else had read it. Josh did think it was over. Cliff couldn’t reveal anything or he’d be disbarred. He helped to conceal evidence. Not that it was evidence for the MS, but if Donna had admitted to the diary’s existence, the committee would have subpoenaed it. 

“Here it comes.” she said quickly as Paula Zahn appeared on screen talking about the shake up with Hoynes. Suddenly, Donna appeared on camera. 

He smiled automatically when he saw her, as he was always prone to do. She was poised, she looked right at the press, she was beautiful. 

“You’re on t.v.” he smiled. But he lost the smile when read the bottom of the screen. “Donna Moss, Spokesperson for Russell Campaign.” he read slowly. 

“I know!” she squealed. “I got a promotion. Will’s gonna let me do the press.” 

He was SO glad she wasn’t telling him this in person. His face was probably giving everything away right now. This meant one thing to Josh. 

Will knew about them. 

He had to. Donna had no experience with the press. Will suddenly makes her the face of a Presidential campaign? Not that Josh didn’t think she could do it, he did. And why shouldn’t Will want to put her on t.v. for them? She was beautiful. Russell’s entire demographic will stop to ogle her and see what the hot blonde woman on t.v. was talking about. For crying out loud, Josh himself wanted to put her on a freaking stamp. 

But Will had to know. Today was all about Hoynes; tomorrow would be all about Santos. Donna was so excited. He thought that she hadn’t stopped to think about what she was going to have to say about Santos when Hoynes was out of the running. 

“Josh?” she asked. “You’re kind of quiet over there.” 

“I’m just watching my beautiful girlfriend on t.v.” he said with a forced enthusiasm. 

“Did I do good?” 

“You did outstanding.” 

Too outstanding. 

“I’m really excited. I can’t believe it!” 

Neither can I, he thought. 

“It’s good for you, Donna. You work hard. I’m proud of you.” he said softly. 

“You are?” she asked and he rolled his eyes as he heard the emotion creeping into her voice. He’d made her cry. 

“Yes, I am, and don’t cry about it.” 

“Thank you.” she said through her tears anyway. 

“Are you guys coming out here?” he asked changing the subject. 

“Yeah, tomorrow.” she said. 

“We’ll be all over the place.” 

“I’ll call you when I land.” she promised. “It’s getting pretty late here now, and I got to call my mom and dad.” 

“Tell them I said hi.” 

“I will.” he could hear her smile through the phone and it was cutting through him like a knife. “I love you.” 

“I love you, too, baby.” he said softly. 

“Night.” 

“Night.” 

He disconnected the call and resisted the urge the hurl the phone across the room. He hopped up and began to pace. 

Will knew. He had to have known somehow. Somewhere, they tripped up. The question now was, what the hell was Josh going to do about it? If Josh was in Will’s position, he’d have fired Donna. But, Will could never take him politically. So, he’s going to use Donna to take him personally. Not a bad way to go about it either. 

Josh was effectively backed into a corner. If he told Donna that he thought, and in all likelihood he was right, that Will was using Donna to get at Josh through the press, Donna was going to freak. She was probably going to accuse him of being unsupportive of her new career. But she WAS going to have to say horrible things about them, and he’d told her enough over the years that politics wasn’t personal. 

Except for now, when it so clearly was. 

She was going to say she was just doing her job. And he was going to have to keep himself in check and take everything coming out of her mouth on t.v. for what it was. Will hiding behind the curtains. 

But on the other hand, if he did manage to convince her he was right, he pitied Will Bailey. Donna would rip him to shreds. He wondered if the Vice President knew Will’s game. He wouldn’t be surprised. 

It wasn’t that Josh couldn’t win this game Will was playing, it was that the stakes were getting too high. 

TBC


	7. Trouble With Making Up, The

“Hey!” Sam greeted jovially as he greeted Josh at his front door. He gave Josh a big hug, then lead him into the Spanish Style home. 

“This house is enormous, Sam.” Josh said turning around and looking up at the Cathedral, beamed ceilings. 

“Comes with actually, you know, making money now.” Sam quipped. “Come out by the pool. You have to see my view.” He lead Josh through the spacious living room and out the sliding doors, which were part of a wall of glass. 

“Wow.” Josh said as they stepped outside. 

“Yeah.” 

“That’s some view.” 

“Yeah.” Sam agreed. 

“Nice set up.” 

“Thanks.” Sam smiled. “I’m really glad you called me to tell me you were coming out. I wasn’t sure I’d get to see you.” 

“I wasn’t sure either, but I ended up having some time. And I needed to talk to you and I didn’t want to do it over the phone.” 

“Well, before you get into anything,” Sam said holding his hands out. “Donna’s in town, too.” 

“Yes, I know that.” Josh smiled knowingly. 

“I invited her over.” Sam said quickly. 

“Today?” Josh asked. 

“Yeah. She’ll be here in, like, an hour.” 

“That should give me enough time.” Josh said smiling. He was suddenly really happy and nearly forgot about what he wanted to talk to Sam about. He wasn’t expecting to see her until tomorrow. 

“To bail before she leaves?” Sam sighed. 

“No.” Josh said. “But she can’t hear what I have to talk to you about.” 

“It’s campaign stuff.” Sam concluded with a nod. 

“Yeah.” 

“You don’t trust her.” There was a hint of sadness to Sam’s voice. “I can’t believe this is you two now; that you don’t even trust her --” 

“Sam, I do now, have always, and always will, trust Donna with my life.” Josh assured. “I trust Donna with every aspect of my life. Always.” Sam looked at Josh thoughtfully. He knew how Josh had felt when Donna left. That he could still say something like that was encouraging. 

“I thought you guys weren’t talking.” 

“Oh, we’re talking.” 

“What’s going on?” Sam asked gesturing over to his outdoor kitchen where the poolside minibar was. Josh tried not to dwell on the extreme difference in Sam’s lifestyle now as opposed to when he lived in DC. An outdoor kitchen? This place was amazing. 

Josh took a seat at the table and cracked the beer Sam gave him. “We’re sleeping together.” Josh said bluntly and Sam’s jaw dropped. 

“Sleeping together?” he repeated, and Josh nodded. “That’s amazing.” 

“Yes, it is.” Josh grinned. 

“So, wait.” Sam said. “Draw me a picture here.” 

“Sam, I swear to God, I’m not going to explain what Donna looks like naked.” 

“No.” Sam said with a grin. “That was TOTALLY not what I was asking. I mean a figurative picture. Are you guys simply having casual sex, or...” 

“No, Sam. I’m in love with her, and she knows it. I’ve told her.” Josh nodded. “And if you tell me it’s about time, I’m going to toss you in your pool.” 

“I wasn’t going to say it’s about time.” Sam smiled. 

“You weren’t?” 

“No. I was going to say that I was really happy for you guys. I always thought you guys made a nice couple.” 

“We weren’t a couple until after the primary debates.” Josh said. “I want to be, like, really clear about that. Nothing went on before.” 

“Josh, this is me you’re talking to. Your best friend. Maybe you guys have only been romantically involved since then, but you guys have been emotionally involved pretty much for eight years now. You confessed to me that not only did you not like it when she dated, but that you did everything in your considerable power to sabotage them. There were times, when if looks could kill, Amy would have spontaneously exploded from the looks Donna gave her. You flew to Germany.” 

“Okay.” Josh said, ending Sam’s...whatever that was turning out to be. “Just so long as you and I are on the same page here.” 

“We’re on the same page.” 

“So, you’re the only one now who knows, besides, like, our parents.” Josh said. “We haven’t said anything yet.” 

“Because you’re on opposing campaigns.” 

“Right.” 

“That could be incredibly sticky.” 

“Right.” Josh agreed. “Now, we don’t talk about the campaigns at all, except, you know, to compare schedules so we know when we’re going to see each other again.” 

“Kay.” Sam nodded smiling. Josh felt like an idiot because Sam’s grin was actually kind of infectious. 

“We’re good, but we’re still working on things. Donna and I have had a lot of issues over the years.” 

“No shit.” 

“What?” 

“You have.” 

“Well, one of them came back with gusto a few weeks ago.” 

“What happened?” Sam asked. 

“I can’t tell you that.” 

“I’m your best friend. You can tell me anything.” 

“You’re also a lawyer, and a former member of the Bartlet administration. A member who testified before Congress during the MS hearings.” 

“Oh, God.” Sam groaned dropping his head onto the table, and gently banging it up and down. “Did you perjure yourself?” 

“No.” 

“Did Donna?” 

“Sam, I really can’t talk about it with you, and that’s not the point anyway.” 

“I hope you never have to tell me.” 

“Trust me, so do I.” 

“Okay. What is the point?” Sam sighed getting back on track. 

“I’m reasonably sure that Will knows about us.” Josh ended. 

“Did he threaten her job?” 

“No. He promoted her to press spokesperson.” Josh said. “He’s already tried to throw me off my game once with her way back in the beginning.” 

“He’s got to win an election, Josh. He’s not going to put someone on t.v. that sucks.” 

“She doesn’t suck.” Josh said. “She’s good. But he’s got her hitting kind of hard.” 

“Josh, politics isn’t personal.” Sam said. 

“It is now.” Josh replied. “Sam, I’m telling you. He knows, and he’s using her to torpedo us, and I don’t know what to do about it.” 

“How do you know he knows?” 

“I don’t know for sure. I just know it in my gut.” 

“Your gut’s usually right.” Sam said sitting up in the chair. “Well, you could stop seeing her.” 

“Which I’m absolutely NOT going to do.” 

“Just until after the convention.” Sam suggested. 

“It wouldn’t matter, Sam.” Josh replied. “If he knows we’re together, and we break up for the sake of the campaign, he’s not going to believe I don’t feel the same way about her still. I mean, he took a guess in New Hampshire a few months ago, and he was right.” 

“True.” Sam agreed. 

“So?” 

“It’s a conundrum.” 

“I can’t tell her I think that. She’ll go nuts.” 

“No, she won’t.” 

“Sam, it’s me and Donna.” 

“Yeah, she’ll go nuts.” 

“Thank you.” 

“Well, Josh, you’re not a novice at this. You can take the things she’s going to have to say. You have to separate yourself is all and not hold it against her.” 

“I know that.” Josh nodded. “But it occurs to me now that Will’s probably got a bigger plan though. Just hitting me in the press? What the hell does he think that’s going to do?” 

“If he had something on Santos, he would have played it by now.” 

“No. He’s going to use Donna.” 

“What a weasel.” 

“You sent him to us!” 

“I didn’t know he was Machiavelli!” Sam defended. “Although, I must say, I’m impressed you’re not completely flying off the handle right now.” 

“Why would I do that?” 

“Because it’s Donna.” Sam reminded. “Josh, have you not taken notice at all of the way you are about her?” 

“I’m crazy about her.” 

“Yeah.” 

“So?” 

“Josh, most of the eligible men in DC didn’t ask Donna out because they were afraid of you. Why do you think that was? Do you know how many times I’ve actually had to assure someone it was okay to ask Donna out?” 

“You told people they could date Donna!?” 

“See, this is my point. You are CRAZY about her. You always have been.” 

“What am I going to do about this?” Josh groaned dramatically dropping his head onto this arms on the table. 

“Josh, you can take Will.” Sam assured. “Will’s an amateur. You can strategize circles around him.” 

“You’re right, I can.” Josh agreed sitting back up. “But it’ll cost me Donna.” 

“Nothing will cost you Donna.” Sam said confidently. “If you guys are not only talking again, but actually together, nothing will cost you Donna. Josh, you and her aren’t meant to be apart. And you obviously can’t be. She loves you, she’s always loved you, and she’s loved you in spite of anything you’ve done.” 

“Sam, the only way to beat Will is to use Donna against him. That’s something I absolutely will not do. I will sooner cast my lot with Vinnick than do that to her.” 

Sam studied Josh a minute. He was about to reply when the doorbell rang. 

“There’s the object of your affection now.” Sam announced. 

“Yeah.” Josh grinned. 

Sam went to the front door to greet Donna, and Josh stopped just inside. He watched as Sam greeted her with a hug and smiled brightly for him, gushing over his house. He tried to look at her through a stranger’s eyes. She looked happy, and beautiful, and she radiated confidence. Donnatella Moss had everything she wanted. The man she loved, the job she wanted, friends that care about her. And Josh would be damned if he let Will Bailey take that from her. 

One thing Josh never stood for over the years was anything or anyone that could hurt her. She saw the world as it should be and he did everything he could to protect that for her. 

Her smile grew as she saw him over Sam’s shoulder and she broke away moved toward him. He, of course, met her half way. 

“I didn’t know you were going to be here!” she smiled throwing her arms around him tightly. He tightened his embrace and buried his face in her shoulder. Too much time went by now between the times he could see her. It used to be mere hours; now, sometimes it was weeks. 

She pulled away and looked at him. “What’s the matter?” she demanded. 

“Nothing.” he assured, kissing her forehead, then running his hand through her hair. 

“Don’t start this crap again.” she ordered. 

“I’m not starting any crap.” he replied. “Do you have to be at the hotel tonight?” 

“No.” 

“Me either.” he smiled. “Let’s stay here.” 

“You can’t just invite us to stay at Sam’s.” 

“Sure you can!” Sam exclaimed. “I’ve got four bedrooms. I think I can spare you one.” 

“You’re using misdirection.” 

“It’s just campaign stuff.” he replied. And that was true. 

She searched his eyes for the truth, but since he was telling her the truth, just not the specifics of it, she didn’t see anything different. But she did see concern. Whatever it was, he was conflicted about it. 

“Okay.” she said rubbing her thumb along his cheek. 

Sam stood back and watched his two friends. One year on a campaign, nearly seven in the White House. That was a long time to wait to have a moment like this. It was always fun to watch them. They could say so much and not say anything at all. 

“Are you mad at what I said today?” she asked Josh. 

“No. I’m not mad.” 

“I just say what Will tells me to.” 

“I know.” he nodded. “And you do it well.” 

“It’s scary.” she confessed. 

“It really is.” he agreed wrapping his arms around her again. 

TBC


	8. Trouble With Making Up, The

“Why are you so sad tonight, Josh?” Donna asked as they lay curled up in one of Sam’s guest rooms. 

“Baby, I got you naked in a real bed and not a hotel room for the first time, ever. What could I possibly be sad at?” 

“I don’t know, but you are.” she insisted, snuggling into him further and giving him a squeeze. 

“I told you, it’s just campaign stuff.” he said. “It’s a tough fight. I got a lot on my mind.” 

“Am I making it tougher?” 

How did she DO that? How could she know what was wrong without knowing what was wrong? She’d always been that way with him. Sometimes he hated that she could read him so effortlessly and other times, like that horrible Christmas, he was grateful for it. 

“Donna, look at me for a second.” he said. She propped herself on an elbow, and he did the same. He was giving her what she’d come to associate as his serious face. His really serious face. “You know how important to me you are, right?” 

“Sure.” she nodded. 

“No.” he shook his head. “Donna, you’re everything to me.” 

“I know.” she smiled trailing a light finger down his face. 

“I just don’t want you to ever think that I may have used our personal relationship for political reasons.” he said. 

“I would never think that.” she assured. 

“You say that now, but when presented the right way to you, you might not.” 

“Are you afraid that’s going to happen?” 

“Yes.” He nodded. “Donna, I’m terrified that’s going to happen. There’s nothing I won’t do for you, you know that, right?” 

“Yes.” she smiled. “I think I’ve learned that over the years.” 

“I’m afraid if Will finds out about us, he’s going to use you against me.” 

“I won’t let that happen.” she said firmly. 

“You might not realize he’s doing it.” Josh countered. 

“I’m not an idiot, Josh.” she snapped. 

“No.” he said quickly. “I didn’t mean to imply that. I absolutely don’t think that. You wanted to know what’s wrong, and I’m telling you.” Sort of, he thought. 

“Josh, Will won’t do that. He’s our friend.” Donna assured. 

“Not right now he’s not.” 

“Well, he’s MY friend.” 

Not right now he’s not, Josh thought again. 

“He won’t do that, Josh. He won’t.” Donna said. She sounded pretty confident. Except Josh was nearly 100 percent sure that’s exactly what was happening. 

“I’m just afraid I’m going to lose you over something that’s out of my control.” 

“Josh, the convention’s only two months away. After that, no matter what the outcome is, Will doesn’t matter anymore. It doesn’t matter what anyone knows or doesn’t know.” 

“Yeah.” he said unconvinced. 

“Josh,” she said scooting closer. “please don’t worry about it. I won’t let that happen, I promise.” 

“All right.” he nodded, though her faith in Will’s friendship added to his sense of dread over the whole situation. He was beginning to see it as inevitable. 

“And I will see through anything that he might try, which I don’t think he would.” she nodded. “My someone’s-trying-to-screw-Josh-radar is still pretty good, and my deflection record there is near perfect.” He smiled at her confidence. As far as this particular area went, she had every right to be. She was right. She protected him like he protected her and she had a near, if not completely, flawless record in that respect. But he still wasn’t a hundred percent sure she’d catch it in time. She also believed Will was her friend and the Vice President was a good man. 

“All right?” she asked as he fell back onto his pillow. 

“Yeah.” he nodded. 

“You’re not convinced.” 

“No, I’m not.” he admitted. 

“You’ll see.” she said pushing the blankets back and kissing his chest. 

“What are you doing?” he groaned as she moved up to his neck. 

“Distracting you.” she said innocently. 

“You’re doing a bang up job.” he squeaked as she took his earlobe in her mouth and her hand disappeared under the sheets. 

“Have I EVER slacked for you, Joshua?” she smiled wickedly. 

“No.” he said with a groan, while he tried to force his eyes to see straight again. But then she moved and her flawless breasts were right in his face, and well, now he needed his full vision. 

She pressed her body against him and kissed him deeply. Her silky, golden hair fell around their faces and his hands began to run up her body. 

He broke away from the kiss and looked intently into her eyes. “It’s just I love you so much, Donna, and I just got you back...” 

“Stop it, Josh.” she whispered. 

“If I lose you again...” 

“You won’t, Josh.” she insisted. 

“I don’t want to be an empty shell.” 

“Joshua.” she snapped grabbing his face in her hands. When she looked in his eyes, she saw the fear there. He wasn’t being dramatic. He was genuinely afraid. She studied him for a moment before whispering, “I waited eight years for you. Eight years of dating guys that would never measure up; of watching you kiss other women; of working late nights because it was the only time we could spend together; of living for formal events, so I had an excuse to put my arms around you and touch you; of crying my eyes out when you were suffering; and wanting to throw things when someone tried to hurt you. Eight years, Josh! Give me some credit here.” 

He pushed her hair behind her ears and linked his fingers with hers, then she moved their hands up by his head so she could support herself. 

“I know somewhere deep down you’re still mad at me for stuff.” he said softly. “And maybe it’s stuff you always will be a little mad at me for, and as long as you keep getting naked and laying on top of me like this, I’ll live with that. But, Donna, the only reason why I haven’t gone and found someone to bind you to me forever is because I don’t want you to be raked through the mud for being secretly married to the enemy.” 

“I am bound to you forever, Joshua.” 

He pulled her to him and held on tightly. 

He certainly hoped so. 

TBC


	9. Trouble With Making Up, The

“Well?” the Vice President asked emerging from the room after Santos and Josh left, as Donna looked longingly towards the door. That was the first time she’d seen him since they got here. He gave her a fleeting glance before he turned his attention to the Congressman and Russell. 

“You didn’t expect an answer?” Will replied. 

“How it hit him-a read?” Russell asked both Donna and Will. Donna shrugged and looked to Will. 

“You know, Josh.” Will said to her. “What’s he going to recommend?” 

“I don’t know.” she shrugged defensively. Donna noticed a look pass between Will and the Vice President before the Vice President disappeared into the back room again. 

“Why don’t you go talk to him?” Will said when the Vice President was out of the room. 

“Talk to who?” Donna asked as she began to pack up her laptop. When she didn’t receive an answer, she looked over to him. He was giving her a pointed look. “Talk to who?” she asked again. 

“Josh.” Will replied. 

“Josh?” she asked. “Talk to him about what?” 

“Talking the Congressman into accepting the Vice President’s offer.” Will said. 

“And you think the Congressman is going to listen to anything I say?” Donna asked incredulously. 

“Not him. Josh.” Will said bluntly, and Donna felt her stomach fall to her toes. 

“Josh?” she repeated nearly inaudible. 

“Go talk to Josh, convince him it’s the right thing to do.” 

“Will, I told you. Josh and I didn’t part ways at the White House under the best circumstances.” Donna said quickly. “I don’t know how you think things are between Josh and me --” 

“They’re fantastic as a matter of fact.” Will cut off. Donna could feel a tightening in her chest and her stomach turn over. 

“Why would you think --” she began with a shake of her head. 

“Because we’ve seen you, Donna.” Will said. “You’ve guys have been together for at least a couple of months now.” 

“We haven’t talked about campaign strategy.” Donna said by way of explanation. 

“Oh, I’m well aware of that.” Will said. 

“I’m not going to tell him how to run his campaign, Will.” Donna said a little more strongly. 

“Oh, but you are, Donna.” Will said. “He trusts you. And you have enormous influence over him. You have his ear, you always have. Go tell him what a good idea it is, Donna.” 

With shaking hands, Donna stood up and slid her laptop into her attache case and slung it over her shoulder. “No, Will.” she said forcefully. “I will quit before I do that.” 

“You serve the Vice President, Donna.” Will said. “And if you won’t do it for your Vice President, then do it for Josh.” 

“I’m sorry?” Donna said after a pause. 

“The written word is a powerful thing, Donna, as I’m sure you’ve painfully learned by now.” Will said softly. “Especially when it’s not meant for anyone else’s eyes.” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“Do you know what the statute of limitations is for lying to Congress?” Will continued. And that’s when Donna stopped breathing. It couldn’t be. He couldn’t possibly know. Did Cliff sell them out? Will couldn’t be talking about the diary. The only three people in the world who knew about it were she, Josh, and Cliff. “There isn’t one.” Will continued. “And that’s a pretty damaging diary.” 

“I didn’t lie.” 

“You lied and Josh covered it up.” Will replied. “I read the transcript of your deposition and I’ve read the diary.” 

“How?” she demanded. 

“Doesn’t matter.” 

“Oh yes it does.” 

“It’ll be an interesting twist, that’s for sure.” Will said. “Usually it’s the person in your job that goes up the river, but that was a pretty detailed account of Josh’s life there, not to mention it points to quite the inappropriate relationship between two White House staffers, a boss and subordinate, no less.” 

“That’s not how it was, and you know it.” Donna fired back. 

“No, I don’t.” Will said with a casual shrug. “All I know is what you wrote down. Does Josh have a diary somewhere telling the other side of the story?” 

She couldn’t believe this was happening. How could Will KNOW this? 

“It’s going to get ugly for him, Donna.” Will predicted. “Well, you’ll be in jail, so I’m sure he won’t take that well, but covering up for you? He may garnish a little sympathy due to his fragile mental state from the shooting, but I’m thinking his career will be quite over, as will probably Cliff Calley’s, but that’ll just be collateral damage, really. So, you can quit if you want, Donna, outcome’s going to be the same.” 

Will turned and disappeared into the back room, leaving a breathless Donna standing in the middle of the room in extreme disbelief. How could this be happening to them? How could Will know? Did Cliff actually make more than one copy? 

She forced her feet to move and quickly fled into the hallway. Once she was out of the hotel suite, she leaned up against the wall and took deep breaths, trying to calm herself down, but the tears and the anxiety were pushing through. 

This was a nightmare. This was worse than a nightmare. Was there anything worse than a nightmare? He had put everything on the line for her and she lost it all. She threw herself in front of the train for him, and it was ultimately going to cost her him anyway, just like she was afraid it was going to the night they met Cliff in the park. He was afraid of losing her? That was a laugh. 

She pushed herself off the wall and headed for the elevators, wiping the tears away. She had to focus. She had to find him. She had to confess once again how monumentally bad she’d screwed up. Again. 

Talk about double jeopardy. 

She rode the elevator down to the lobby. Were they staying at this hotel? She couldn’t even retain that thought. She pulled out her cell phone to call him and walked toward the hotel bar. She froze when she crossed the threshold. He was right there having a drink with the Congressman, quite obviously discussing the pros and cons of the Vice President’s offer. 

He looked up and his eyes met hers. He was about to smile, then took in her appearance, and he was immediately on his feet walking towards her. 

TBC


	10. Trouble With Making Up, The

“What happened?” Josh demanded immediately as the door closed to his hotel room. Something horrible obviously. She was trembling and all the color was gone from her face. When he stood before her downstairs and had taken in her appearance, he had quickly excused himself from the Congressman to take her up here. He’ll have to figure out how he was going to explain that one later. All he could think of now was getting Donna the hell out of there and somewhere private. 

When he put his arms around her to comfort her, she became unglued. “I don’t deserve this.” she sobbed into his shoulder. 

“Don’t deserve what?” he asked. 

“Don’t deserve you.” she replied. 

“What?” he asked pulling back a little to look at her. “Donna, what’s going on?” 

“Will...” she choked out as he gently led her to the bed to sit down. 

“Will? What about Will?” He demanded. “What happened with Will?” 

“He knows....about us.” 

Well, yeah, Josh thought. “He said something?” 

Oh boy did he say something! Donna thought but merely nodded her head. 

“Did he fire you?” 

“No.” 

“What did he ask you to do?” 

Donna looked up at him through hazy eyes. He was awfully calm about this. Well, no, he did appear angry, but he wasn’t freaking out about it, like she was. Of course, he didn’t know the worst part yet either. 

“He ordered me to convince you to convince the Congressman to take the deal.” she said softly. 

Nice try, Will. Josh thought. He actually thought Donna would do that? Other women that Josh had been involved with in the past probably would use their physical influence with him to try and pull that off. But he wasn’t under the same spell with them as he was with Donna. She totally could do it, too. But the difference was, Donna would never dream of doing something like that to him. 

“What did you say to that?” Josh said with an almost laugh. 

“I told him I’d quit before I did that.” 

“That couldn’t have gone over well.” 

“It didn’t. That’s when he threatened me with my diary.” 

Well, that effectively blindsided Josh just as well as it did Donna earlier. He had NEVER expected that. Were they talking about the same diary? How could Will know about that? 

“You don’t have another diary, do you?” Josh asked. 

“No. I stopped keeping one after that.” Donna asked. “I figured once bitten, twice shy, right? But, it appears I’m not done being bitten yet.” 

Josh let out a long breath and looked at her. She was devastated. And right now, it was Will Bailey’s fault. 

“I’m so sorry, Josh.” she whispered painfully. “I don’t know what I was ever thinking writing that stuff down.” 

Josh knelt down in front of her and pushed her hair out of her tear stained face. “You were hurting, Donna.” He said softly. “And I was hurting, and I never let you talk to me about it. I couldn’t see your pain through mine. People finding out about the post-traumatic stress disorder, is not going to end my career. That was six years ago. I can quite obviously do my job.” 

“No. Me committing perjury and you covering it up is going to ruin your career.” she shot back. “You’re better off without me, Josh.” 

“Are you kidding me? I’m a basketcase without you, Donna. I always have been, and literally most of the world knows it.” 

“What am I going to do?” she cried dramatically, dropping her head into his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, rubbing her back as she cried on his shoulder. 

“Well, I’m going to get you naked, we’ll have mind-blowing sex, and tomorrow morning, you’ll go back to work.” Josh said. 

“I can’t go back to work for Will.” Donna denied. 

“You can, Donna.” Josh nodded firmly. “And you will. You’re a professional. And we are sure as hell not backing down from a fight. We never have before.” 

She lifted her head from his shoulder and ran her shaking hand through his hair before dropping it to his heart. “No, we haven’t.” she whispered. 

“No, we haven’t.” he repeated mirroring her movement before leaning in and kissing her. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, when Josh was sure Donna was sleeping, he went off in search of Will. He found him, predicably, down in the hotel bar. He sat down on the stool next to Will and ordered a Scotch. He needed a stiff drink to help quell the urge to knock Will’s lights out. 

“You talked to Donna?” Will asked. 

“I did.” 

“And?” 

“Santos is his own man; he makes the decision.” 

“He makes the decision based on your counsel, Josh. Don’t ruin your career.” 

“You think YOU’RE going to be the one to bring me down?” Josh laughed. “Are you kidding me?” 

“I’VE got the mortgage on your career now, Josh.” Will bit back. “Yeah, I think it’ll be me. I don’t particularly want to be the one, but my guy’s going to win. I’m sorry it had to come down this way, at one point we were friends.” 

“You know what, Will?” Josh replied. “You do what you need to. Post traumatic stress disorder isn’t going to ruin my career.” 

“No, but the covered up diary and lying to Congress will.” Will shot back. 

“Maybe.” Josh shrugged. “But you do what you need to. You want to play dirty politics to get your guy to win, that’s just fine. We all can’t win on brains alone, some of us are going to have to resort to selling our souls. Every four years, there’s a guy like you at the convention. Desperate to win; desperate for that shining moment in their career.” 

“You’re too idealistic, Josh.” Will replied. “You’d play the same game if you could.” 

“I DID play the same game, Will.” Josh replied. “That’s what’s got me here sitting with you and trying to get the image of the woman I love crying her eyes out because she was just unbelievably betrayed by someone she thought was a friend. And you better believe the day will come when you regret that, Will. You weren’t in the West Wing long, but surely you figured out that NOBODY hurts Donna and gets away from me.” 

“YOU’RE going to threaten me? Now?” Will laughed. “I’m going to grab me the closest reporter and end your career tomorrow. I have the transcript of her deposition where she lied, Josh.” 

“But do you have the diary?” Josh shot back. Josh watched Will’s face. There it was. A twitch. 

“You think that’s the sort of thing I carry around, Josh?” Will said. “Would rather me just pull it out here in the bar?” 

“I would actually.” Josh replied smoothly. No poker face, my ass, he thought. “You don’t mind, do you? I just want to see your copy. I mean, if you’re going to ruin my career and send Donna to prison, I think that’s fair. I want to see the highlighted parts you’re going to give the Washington Post.” 

Another twitch. 

“I’ll just tell you the really interesting parts. Of course the sun rises and sets on you. Reading this thing, you’d think you could walk on water. But that’s small time stuff. That just hints at an extremely inappropriate relationship for the White House. There’s probably not much there. Embarrassing sure; she’ll probably be called some ugly names for that. But who’s not doing that in Washington, really? The boss screwing his assistant? That’s the same old story everyone’s got. But putting your hand through a window? I swear to God, Josh, I think there’s actually dried tears on that page. Blowing up at the President in the Oval Office? Maybe that won’t ruin your career, but every heartbreaking page is dated, Josh. There’s no question when she wrote it, and when the date of the deposition was.” 

Josh stood up and slowly drained his glass. He put it down on the bar and casually tossed money on the bar next to it. 

“Will Bailey,” he said. His voice was soft, but the menacing tone he used chilled Will’s bones. “We’re going to send you back to Orange County swinging by your neck from a hanging chad.” 

TBC


	11. Trouble With Making Up, The

Donna walked into the Russell war room and quickly scanned the room. “Has anyone seen Will this morning?” she asked the room at large. 

“Yeah.” a staffer replied. “He and the Vice President were called back to Washington. They left a few hours ago. They’ll be back tomorrow before the convention starts.” 

Oh shit. 

Josh told Donna that morning that he’d talked to Will in the bar. He said that he didn’t think Will actually had the diary. Since Josh’s skills at reading people were pretty much unparalleled, she trusted him. But she hadn’t destroyed the original yet. Would Will try to go to her place and get it? 

Then it hit her. 

He must have heard her, Josh’s, and Cliff’s conversation that night in the Vice President’s office. He must have heard the exchange. Donna had said exactly where the original was and then went and sent Will to her apartment to water the plants. Dammit! But if Josh thought that Will didn’t have it, Will knew where to get it, and Will had a spare set of keys to her apartment. 

Did this nightmare never end? 

She took a deep breath. She had to talk to Josh. She nearly laughed out loud at the thought. On the day before the convention, the Russell campaign spokesperson had to pull the Santos campaign manager out of the war room and hope nobody noticed. 

She pulled open her laptop. She’d find Josh in a minute. First, she had to check the campaign’s email and do some work. She couldn’t go running out the door as soon as she heard Will wasn’t here, it’d look too suspicious. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Josh hit speakerphone as soon as he heard Toby pick up the phone. 

“I’m not speaking to you, Joshua.” Toby announced. 

“I know you’re not.” Josh shot back. “But you ARE speaking to Donna and she’s here.” 

“Donna’s there?” Toby asked. 

“Yes, Toby.” Donna said so Toby could hear her. 

“What on Earth is so desperate that you had to pull me out of a meeting?” Toby demanded. “You used the old friend from home line.” 

“Yeah, we need you to do something for us right away and not ask any questions about it.” Josh hedged. 

There was a pause on the other end of the line and Josh and Donna exchanged curious glances. “What stupid idiotic thing did you do now, Josh?” 

“It wasn’t stupid.” Josh shot back. “I’d do it again without batting any eye. And I said you couldn’t ask any questions. The less you know the better.” 

“Shit.” Toby sighed. “What do you need?” 

“We need you to take Donna’s spare set of keys to her apartment and give them to Calley.” Josh said. 

“What?” Toby asked. 

“Yeah. And then we need you to give him a message so he’ll know what to do with them.” 

“You’re kidding me.” 

“No questions, Toby.” Josh reminded. 

“Well, I got to ask what the message is, right?” Toby shot back. 

“The message is, `It’s under the bed. Get it.’” Donna supplied. “He’s got to get there now, Toby. And he’s got to avoid Will at all costs.” 

“Will’s involved with this?” Toby asked. 

“Toby, really, you don’t want a piece of this.” Josh assured. “We absolutely can’t tell you anymore. If you get subpoenaed --” 

“Fuck, Josh!” Toby called out. “Well, if that’s not the magic word...” 

“Yeah.” Josh said. “I swear to God, Toby, I’d tell you in a heartbeat.” 

“You’re going to screw over Will and not let me help?” Toby demanded. “Do you ever want me to forgive you?” 

“You ARE helping.” Donna implored. “By running, and not walking, those keys to Cliff right now. Will’s on his way to Washington. Cliff HAS to beat him.” 

“I cannot believe I’m being roped into this cloak and dagger Batman and Robin crap.” Toby sighed. “Well, I gotta go now. I’ve got a mission to accomplish.” 

“Thanks, Toby.” Donna smiled. Josh disconnected the phone and looked over at Donna, she held his gaze with a deep sigh. Once again, they were placing their trust in Cliff Calley. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

“I’m back!” Cliff called out as he entered his office. He opened the bottom desk drawer and slid the small diary in. He knew right away what Josh and Donna’s message meant, but what he was supposed to do now, he had NO idea. Toby’s exact words were, “Take Donna’s keys. Donna says, it’s under the bed, get it.” Toby didn’t say anything else, but the question in his eyes was unmistakable. 

So was the warning. 

When Toby glared at you, he really wasn’t one to cross. Toby clearly didn’t know what was going on, but there was nothing misinterpreting in his look, “Screw my friends over, and I will bury you.” 

Sometimes it wasn’t easy to work in this White House. This was a tight group of people, and he wasn’t surprised given all the shit they had been through. 

Cliff pushed his drawer shut just as his assistant appeared in the doorway. “Will Bailey is here to see you.” she announced. 

Cliff gave her a fleeting look of confusion. Will Bailey? Wasn’t he supposed to be in California? And what could he want with Cliff? 

“Um... all right.” Cliff shrugged. A moment later, Will appeared in the door. 

“Hey, Cliff.” Will greeted with a friendly smile as he closed the office door. “Sorry to drop in like this unannounced. I’m flying under the radar.” 

“I guess so.” Cliff said shaking his hand. “Isn’t the convention in, like, two minutes?” 

“Yeah, but like I said, under the radar.” Will replied. 

“What can I do for you?” Cliff asked gesturing to the visitor’s chairs. Will sat down opposite Cliff. 

“I’m not really sure how to broach this subject.” Will said. “So, I’m just going to dive right in.” 

“Shoot.” 

“The Vice President offered Congressman Santos the vice president slot on the ticket, and he’s accepted. They’ll make the announcement in their opening speeches tomorrow morning.” Will began. 

“Really?” Cliff asked obviously surprised. Santos had a lot of momentum going into the convention, and didn’t strike him as someone who would have folded. But Cliff was a republican, so he could certainly understand why some of these decisions were being held close to the vest around him. But on the other hand, Cliff was a republican, why the hell was Will discussing this with him at all? 

“I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m telling you, of all people, this.” Will continued and Cliff raised his eyebrows. “Josh will be staying on board to run the campaign with me and stump with Santos. Last night, we all sat down to hash out the skeletons in the closet. Josh told us about the post-traumatic stress disorder. That in and of itself isn’t a big deal to us. Josh has done nothing if not completely proven he can still work under extreme pressure.” 

“Right.” Cliff prodded. 

“Well, he and Donna also told us about the diary.” Will finished. 

Cliff made damn sure to keep his expression blank. Were they crazy!? Why would they ever disclose that!? And they told Will to come to him?! He’d beat Josh Lyman to a bloody pulp. Cliff had kept up his end of the bargain. He never told another soul about that night in the park. Josh told three people? 

“What diary?” Cliff bluffed. 

“Donna’s diary.” Will replied. “Cliff, it’s okay. I know all about it. I know about the deal you guys made. I’ve actually read the copy. But we need the original.” 

‘It’s under the bed. Get it.’ Were his directions. Nothing else. They obviously hadn’t brought Toby inside on it. So he was supposed to get it and give it to Will? Why the hell hadn’t Donna ever burned this God damn thing? 

With a heavy sigh and a shrug of his shoulders. Cliff opened the bottom drawer and pulled the little leather diary out. 

TBC


	12. Trouble With Making Up, The

*Click* 

Toby entered from CJ’s deserted old office clicking off a small tape recorder. 

“I’ll take that.” Toby said holding out his hands and plucking the diary from Cliff’s fingers, then turning to Will. “Spread that one out, Will, you could fertilize the lawn.” 

“Toby.” Will greeted. “Something I can do for you?” 

“You can get your weasley ass out of here.” Toby said quietly. “I’m just going to take this diary, and this recording of that whole conversation and put them somewhere you’ll never find them.” 

“That was an illegally taped conversation.” Will fired at Toby. “It’ll never be admissible.” 

“This is the WHITE HOUSE, Will.” Toby replied. “There’s bugs everywhere. The President of the United States lives here. And even if it wasn’t, that was about to be an illegally obtained diary on your part.” 

“You don’t even know what’s going on.” Will said. 

“I know Santos didn’t accept Russell’s offer and the instructions are to keep this away from you.” Toby shot back. “You’ve got a lot to learn, Will. Josh Lyman has the memory of an elephant. He’ll remember this for the rest of his life. That is, if your ass isn’t fired tomorrow.” 

“I’m not worried about my job, Toby.” Will said smoothly. 

“Wake up, Will. You’re Russell’s fall guy. When he loses the nomination in a few days, and I promise you, he will, he’ll blame it all on you. And when he does, not even a dead guy will hire you.” 

Will spent a heated moment staring Toby down. But, of course, Toby’s defenses were unpenetrable. “Excuse me.” Will said finally. “I have a flight to catch.” 

“And a convention to lose.” Toby said as Will left the office and slammed the door behind him. 

Alone in the office with Cliff, Toby looked thoughtfully down at the diary. 

“I was SUPPOSED to tell you to avoid Will at all costs.” Toby said. “But I thought this might be the better route to go. What’s in this that Will wants?” Toby asked gesturing to Cliff. 

“It’s not what’s in it.” was all Cliff said. 

“Tell me, Cliff.” 

“I’m not at liberty to do that.” Cliff countered. Obviously, Josh had not said a word about it. 

“I’m in it now, Cliff.” Toby replied. “I’m going to take this and get rid of it to protect my brother. To protect me, he’ll never say what’s in it or why Will wants it. And I have too much respect for Donna to read it without her authorization. You sum it up for me.” 

“You and Josh are brothers?” 

“No, you idiot.” Toby shot back. “Why does a republican and a former Congressional lawyer have a secret about the former Deputy Chief of Staff and his assistant?” Toby asked again. “I’m in it now and I want to know what it is I’m in. Josh is my brother and Donna’s like a little sister, and thank God I’m talking figuratively because who knows what those two are doing out there now. There’s nothing I won’t do for them. But I need to know what’s going on so I know if I need to be doing more.” 

Cliff studied Toby for a minute before gesturing to Toby to sit down. Once Toby was settled, Cliff sat down behind his desk. “When Donna testified during the MS hearings, she was asked if she kept a diary. She answered no. You can see in your hands, she lied to the committee. If you were to read that diary, you’d see that the entries for October 4th and 5th of that year are mostly about me...well, about me and Josh’s reaction to me. She and I had a brief fling before House Government Reform and Oversight took over the hearing, which you might recall I was the lawyer for.” 

Toby nodded. Of course he remembered, he wasn’t likely to forget. 

“When Donna and I discovered the conflict, we stopped seeing each other. But she wasn’t easy for me to get over. I really liked her, we really hit it off. Politics aside, we had a lot of fun. She didn’t care that I was a republican, and I didn’t care that she worked in the White House. Long story short there, she lied in her deposition, and I knew because I’d seen the diary in her apartment. So outside the deposition, I met her at her apartment and told her I knew. I offered to help her walk it back. She told me to take a hike.” 

Toby grinned. That was Donna. 

“She must have been freaked out about it though because Josh called me the next night and made a deal. I get to read it. If there was something in there I thought was relevant, I could subpoena it and get it back. If not, that was it. To make sure I didn’t do anything shady, he had the entries that were about me. There was nothing in there about the MS. I saw no point in dragging Donna through the mud, other than to be malicious, and like I said, I really liked her.” 

“I don’t understand.” Toby said. “If there’s nothing about the MS, why didn’t she want it turned over?” 

“Because it’s Josh.” Cliff smiled shaking his head. “That diary is nearly all Josh. The shooting, her feelings about him, the problems he had after the shooting. Post-traumatic stress disorder.” Toby’s eyes shot up to Cliff’s there. Donna hid the diary from the committee to protect Josh. 

THAT was Donna. 

“There were people on that committee that were desperate to bring this administration down and they would have ruined Josh with what they found in there. Now? Who cares? He’s proven that it doesn’t affect his job. But she lied to protect him, and he covered it up to protect her. I read that diary cover to cover, Toby. Nobody does that for their boss, and no boss makes that deal for their assistant. She stood on the tracks for him and he pushed her out of the way. Quite honestly, it was the most amazing thing I’d ever witnessed two people do for each other in my life.” 

Toby looked thoughtfully down at the diary. The little leather bound book nearly burned his fingertips. 

“Yeah,” Toby said slowly and stood up. “I definitely need to do more.” 

“What are you going to do?” Cliff asked. 

“I’m going to California with the President.”

TBC


	13. Trouble With Making Up, The

“Baby, stop clutching that phone, I’ve got to talk to you.” Donna said reaching down to pull the phone Josh was hugging to his body out of his death grip, but he was not to be dissuaded. 

“We’re dead in the water.” he said monotoned. “I’m going to have to talk to Ernie Gambelli and give him my first born child. You don’t mind, do you Donna? I mean, maybe the first one won’t be that interesting. Maybe we won’t be impressed with them. Would you mind sacrificing our first born child for the democratic party?” He looked up at her with pleading eyes and Donna glanced around the room. Ned, Ronna, and Bram, though Donna had no idea what their names were, were all looking at her them curiously. 

“Give me the fucking phone, Joshua.” Donna demanded. She was finally successful in ripping it from his fingers when he really took in her presence in the room. 

“What the HELL are you doing here?” he demanded. “And since when do YOU use that word?” 

“Let’s go.” Donna said yanking on his forearm. 

“I have to talk to Hoynes again in a little bit.” Josh said shaking her off. 

“Joshua!” Donna groaned. 

“You look nice in purple though, baby.” he smiled. “I’ve always liked you in purple.” 

“And YOU’VE gone round the bend.” she retaliated. “Voting’s not until tonight. I really need to talk to you for a few minutes.” 

Josh stood up and finally put the phone on the table, just as the news on the television started reporting on the convention and a shake up in the Russell campaign. Donna tried to tug Josh out of the room, but he wouldn’t budge and Bram had quickly shushed the room. The reporter was reporting from the convention center that Russell had fired his campaign manager and chief of staff. The Santos staffers gaped at the television, and Josh slowly turned toward Donna. 

“Now maybe you’ll talk to me out in the hall?” she said. Wordlessly, he let her pull him out into the hall. She dragged him along and down to the lobby. When she turned to him, he looked like his head was going to explode. Between the convention, Baker, the diary, Hoynes, Leo, this just might have sent him into overload. 

“Can you tell me what happened?” he asked. 

Silently, she handed him a piece of paper. 

“We anticipate making an announcement about our Vice Presidential pick very soon. No, it's not Baker. He didn't have the support or the political clout to contest us in the primaries, he certainly doesn't have what we need in the Vice Presidential slot. I only have two concerns; one is that Santos might turn us down and leak it. He had the momentum coming into this and if he gets it into his head he can get the nomination without being the second guy on our ticket, we're screwed, the other concern is that Russell strays off the carefully written notes I've given him and the convention figures out he's Charlie McCarthy before they nominate him.” Josh read aloud. 

“That’s an email from Will that accidentally made it’s way to Governor Baker, coincidentally, right before Baker threw his hat into the ring. The Vice President got a hold of it and blew a gasket.” Donna said. 

“Will was stupid enough to put something like this in an email?” Josh asked incredulously. 

“Unfortunately, Will can’t prove he didn’t send it.” Donna said innocently. Josh looked up with Donna with wide eyes. “There’s nothing I won’t do for you either, Joshua.” she said softly. 

Josh studied her carefully and blew out a long breath. “I don’t know whether to yell at you or kiss you.” 

“Well, if we’re going to have a first born child for you to give to Ernie Gambelli, maybe you should consider kissing me.” she smiled flirtatiously. 

His lips were on hers in an instant. They had spent last night in separate rooms and he was tense, stressed, frustrated, annoyed, strung out, and many other things she didn’t like him to be. This kiss, small release that it was, was doing its job to help center him more. 

“I KNEW there was something going on with you two!” 

Josh groaned and pulled away as Matt and Helen Santos approached them. 

“Sir, you know, Donna.” Josh said gesturing to Donna who was blushing furiously. “She’s my --” 

“Chicken Fighter!” Matt interrupted. 

“Yes, sir. She’s my Chicken Fighter.” Josh replied dryly. 

“No, she’s your LOBSTER.” Helen quipped as Donna smacked her hand over her mouth to stifle the giggles and Josh rolled his eyes. “She is, isn’t she Josh? It’s okay. You can say. ‘Donna’s my lobster.’” 

“I don’t even know that the means.” Josh shot back. 

“Yes, you do, Josh.” Donna pouted. 

Josh gave her another eye roll and returned his attention to the Santoses. “Sometimes I really wonder whether you two left the college campus behind.” 

“I wonder that, too.” Helen piped up. 

“Is there something you needed, sir?” Josh asked. 

“I was going to ask you the same thing.” Matt replied. “Ronna said she got a phone call that you wanted to meet us down here now.” 

“What?” Josh asked. He began to look curiously around them. 

“You didn’t ask that?” Helen asked. 

“No.” Josh confirmed. He slowly turned to scan the large lobby. Something was up. What were they being set up for?” 

“Josh?” Donna asked nervously. 

“Something’s going on.” he said needlessly. 

“Yes, it is.” Donna smirked pointing to the front doors where the secret service was entering, followed immediately by the Presidential party. 

“Joshua!” President Bartlet greeted jovially. “I swear there’s no end to that calculating, strategizing brain of yours. How is it you knew the exact moment we’d be coming through the door?” 

“Dumb luck, sir.” Josh replied shaking the President’s hand. 

“Matt.” the President greeted shaking Matt’s hand as the press corps fired off some pictures. “Hell of a convention.” 

“Yes, it is, sir.” Matt agreed. 

“You know my wife, Abby and daughter, Zoey.” 

“Yes, sir. It’s a pleasure to meet you again.” Matt smiled. “This is my wife Helen.” 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Bartlet.” Helen smiled nervously shaking Abby’s hand. 

“Oh, please. Abby.” Abby smiled. “If we’re going to have lunch together, I insist you call me Abby.” 

“Lunch?” Helen and Josh chorused. 

“Of course!” Abby said as if she were mildly offended. Josh shot a look over at Toby who met his eyes and quickly looked away. “We’re certainly not going to hang around these boring suits today. You have to give a speech to the convention. You’re probably nervous about that. I was.” 

“Yes, I am.” Helen answered honestly. 

“Well, I’ll give you pointers.” Abby said. “There’s this great restaurant Zoey always likes to go to whenever we’re out here. They make the guacamole right in front of you. We’ll go there, talk about your speech. I hope you don’t mind though, half the press corps follows me.” 

“Um, no, I don’t mind.” Helen replied. 

“Great. See you down here around noon?” Abby said. “I wish we could just hop in your car and sneak away, but the secret service gets finicky. I’m afraid they tend to cause quite a scene with the limos and police cars. A lot of people are going to look at us.” 

Now Josh was outright grinning. It was an obvious PR stunt. Mrs. Santos getting into the First Lady’s secret service car with the First Lady is going to make quite the visual on the front page in the morning. 

The Presidential party said their goodbyes and moved on, leaving a quite stunned Santos party in its wake. Toby hung back for a minute. 

“I have a present for you.” Toby said to Josh. 

“That wasn’t it?” Josh laughed. 

“No.” Toby grinned with a shake of his head. “That was a present for Will. I’ll catch up to you sometime before we leave.” He gave Donna a smile, the Santoses a quick nod and moved past them to catch up with the President. 

“What the HELL do I talk to the First Lady about?” Helen demanded. 

“Your speech.” Josh answered. “She really will give you invaluable pointers, and then you take the conversation anywhere she goes with it.” 

“This was orchestrated.” Helen said needlessly. 

“It appears that way.” 

“I thought the President wasn’t picking favorites.” Matt said. 

“The President won’t pick his favorite unless he has to.” Donna replied. “Toby and the First Lady are apparently picking their favorite.” 

“How often does Jed Bartlet listened to his wife?” Matt laughed. 

“Nearly always.” Josh grinned. 

TBC


	14. Trouble With Making Up, The

Josh sat up against the wall at the convention center, knees up, elbows propped on his knees and his head tilted back against the wall. He honestly thought he could fall asleep right there. 

Until he heard the shuffling of feet coming toward him. Without opening his eyes, he held his arms up and Donna settled down against him. 

“I swear to God, Josh, I think I could sleep in this hallway.” she said softly. 

“You’re telling me.” He said as they heard Matt Santos’s acceptance speech in the background. 

She curled tighter into his chest and rested her head on his shoulder. “There’s something I need to talk to you about.” she began. 

“Well, there’s like eight things I need to talk to you about.” he replied. 

“I sublet my apartment and I’m out of a job.” she blurted. 

“You’re homeless and jobless?” Josh smirked. 

“It would appear so.” 

“I guess you’ll just have to move in with me then.” Josh smiled taking his head off the wall. 

“I was hoping you’d say that.” she smiled in return picking her head up off his shoulder to look at him. He kissed her lightly. It was all the energy he could muster. “What did you have to talk to me about?” 

“Well, I’ll be traveling for the next five months.” 

“Which will give me plenty of time to rearrange and redecorate your entire apartment.” 

“Well, that’s what I figured.” he sighed “I can’t bring you on right away.” 

“No. But Helen Santos can.” 

“What?” 

“Helen Santos just offered me a job on her staff.” 

“Are you kidding me?” 

“No. She wants help in image consulting and stuff like that.” 

“Who told her she gets a staff?” 

“I guess she’s just going ahead and getting one.” Donna laughed. 

“Okay, Donna? The first thing you do is reign her in.” Josh said. 

“Yes, boss.” 

“And don’t ever call me that.” 

“No problem, Wild Thing.” 

“That’s more like it.” 

“What else do you have to talk to me about?” she asked. 

“I guess those were the salient points.” he said kissing her forehead again. 

“What’s the matter? Need a lift back to your hotel?” Toby asked approaching Josh and Donna. “I’m sure the secret service can take you now.” 

“I need a lift off this floor.” Donna said into Josh’s neck. 

“The last time I saw you two, you weren’t sitting like this.” Toby acknowledged. 

“If we were at the hotel, we wouldn’t be sitting like this either.” Josh smirked. 

“I don’t need to know things like that.” Toby shot back. 

“Then why did you say something like that?” Josh argued. 

“I was merely making an observation that you seemed to have gotten your stubborn head out of your ass and finally did something about you and Donna.” 

“MY stubborn head!” 

“TIME OUT!” Donna yelled and Toby and Josh fell silent. “Josh has something to say to you Toby.” 

“WHAT!?” 

“Toby did something very nice for you today.” Donna said. 

“Let me be very clear, I did NOT do that for Josh.” Toby announced. “That was strictly to screw Will. Any benefit Josh may have gained from that was merely an unfortunate stroke of luck on his part.” 

Donna rolled her eyes and shifted her body so her back was against Josh’s chest. 

“Now,” Toby continued pulling a wrapped box out of a plastic bag he was carrying. “I said earlier I have a gift for you. It’s really for Donna though, Josh, not you.” 

“Of course.” Josh sighed. 

Toby handed Donna the meticulously wrapped box and she looked at him curiously as Josh looked over her shoulder. Toby nodded at her to open it. She peeled away the wrapping paper and shimmied open the white gift box. She scrunched up her nose at the contents and looked up at Toby. 

“You got me a box of ashes?” she asked confused. 

“Well, the gift was originally a leather bound book, but it spontaneously combusted in my bathtub one night, so now it’s a bunch of ashes, yes.” Toby answered. Tears streamed down Donna’s face as she realized what Toby was telling her. Josh dropped his forehead to her shoulder to hide his tears from Toby. “I didn’t read any of it, Donna. I mean, seeing things sometimes was unavoidable, and I’m very sorry about that, but I didn’t read it.” 

“Thank you, Toby.” she said softly looking back down at the box. When Josh had finally composed himself, he looked up at Toby. 

“Thank you.” he said quietly. 

“You’re a very lucky man, Achim.” Toby said to him. “Let her take care of you, she’s good at it.” Josh tightened his arms around Donna’s stomach and she smiled up at Toby. “Well, the President waits for no man, as the three of us so painfully discovered one day.” Toby said, then turned and walked away without another word. 

“Well, that’s that.” Josh said after a few silent moments. 

“What did he call you?” she asked. 

“Brother.” 

“That was sweet!” she cooed. 

“Whatever.” 

“You two are ridiculous.” 

“Maybe we’ll outgrow it.” He moved from behind and stood up, stretching out his back. Donna rose, crossed to the garbage can across from them, and dumped the “gift” into it. He slung an arm around her shoulders and led her down the corridor. 

“What do you want to do now?” she asked wrapping her arms around his waist. 

“Sleep.” 

“No victory sex?” 

“Victory sex, then sleep.” 

“It’ll be nice to sleep in.” 

“Maybe for you.” 

“You too.” 

“I have to go to Washington and hire a staff. I have a 6:30 wake up call.” 

“It’s one o’clock in the morning!” 

“I’ll be energized from the victory sex.” 

“You’ll be unconscious for HOURS from the victory sex, I promise you.” 

“REALLY?” 

“You are NOT waking up at 6:30, Joshua. Just once, I want to sleep in with you.” 

“Baby, if you’re in my bed in the morning, we ain’t sleeping.” 

“Joshua, if I have to knock you over the head and make you unconscious, we are sleeping in in the morning.” 

“Donna...” 

“Don’t make me handle you.” 

“You can’t handle me anymore.” 

“I can handle you anytime I want.” 

“What are we even talking about anymore?” 

“This conversation has many connotations, it seems.” 

“Fine.” Josh sighed dramatically. 

“Seriously?” 

“You’re only going to figure out a way to circumvent me anyway.” 

“This is true.” 

“As long as you’re there in the morning.” 

“And every morning.” 

“And every morning.” 

THE END


End file.
